baisemain
French, noun/bɛz.mɛ̃/
baisemain is spelled B-A-I-S-E-M-A-I-N (9 letters) and appears about once in every 26 million words in written French, the 162,920th most frequent French word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Baisemain is a French masculine noun meaning “in feudalism, homage which the vassal used to give to the fief seigneur, by kissing his hand” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) defines it as “Hommage que le vassal rend au seigneur du fief en lui baisant la main”.
What does baisemain mean in English?
noun
- 1
masculinein feudalism, homage which the vassal used to give to the fief seigneur, by kissing his hand
à belles baisemains
- 2
masculinepolite manner to greet or leave a lady, by kissing her hand, hand-kissing
Source: English Wiktionary, French section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How French dictionaries define it
noun: 1. Hommage que le vassal rend au seigneur du fief en lui baisant la main. 2. Geste de politesse qui consiste à baiser la main d’une dame pour la saluer ou pour prendre congé d’elle.
The definition in the French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire), in French.
Source: French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire), dump of September 1, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org.
Forms of baisemain
- baisemains plural
- baise-main alternative
Source: English Wiktionary and French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
How do you pronounce baisemain?
- /bɛz.mɛ̃/
- \bɛz.mɛ̃\
Sources: English Wiktionary, French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026); recordings from Wikimedia Commons.
How common is baisemain in French?
baisemain appears about once in every 26 million words in written French.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).